Line #166 Fanfic/EightMercenariesAndAToddler


1	->''"Aw, hell. I knew that system was due for an update."''
2	-->-- '''Engineer'''
3
4	''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8302553/1/Eight-Mercenaries-and-A-Toddler Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler]]'' and its sequels ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8605925/1/I-ll-Be-Home-for-the-Holidays I'll Be Home for the Holidays]]'' and ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9894404/1/Machines-Don-t-Bleed Machines Don't Bleed]]'' are three fanfictions of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1744920/ChaosandMayhem ChaosandMayhem]].
5
6	The [[BackFromTheDead Respawn]] system malfunctions on Scout's twenty-first birthday, turning him into a very young kid and giving the other team members a crash course in childcare. They have two days to figure out what went wrong with the system while taking care of a very energetic, enthusiastic child with varying levels of reluctance/competence, because once the weekend is over, it'll be business as usual as far as the Administrator and the [=BLUs=] are concerned.
7
8	''I'll Be Home For the Holidays'' is set a few months later, when the Administrator agrees to have both BLU and RED teams take a [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas]] break, and mainly features VitriolicBestBuds RED Sniper and Spy spending Christmas at the Sniper's parents, upon which wacky hijinks, [[TearJerker low]] [[PerfectlyCromulentWord jinks]], drama and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking giant robots]] ensue. Longer and somewhat DarkerAndEdgier than EMAT.
9
10	''Machines Don't Bleed'' is DarkerAndEdgier ''and'' DenserAndWackier, as the RED team and their allies barely escape getting killed by Gray Mann's robots (unlike the [=BLUs=], who are murdered almost to a man) and uncover a plot of Gray Mann's that may bring about a nuclear winter. A sprawling 240k words epic that gets very dark, very dense and ''very'' wacky but in which the [[AnyoneCanDie surviving]] characters [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy endings]].
11
12	----
13	!!''Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler'', ''I'll Be Home For the Holidays'' and ''Machines Don't Bleed'' include examples of:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder: Series as a whole]]
18
19	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Australium. Regularly injecting undiluted doses directly into your bloodstream temporarily boosts your brain power but also increases your aggression. It can heal your wounds and prolong your life span, but not without cost (like strong dependency).
20	* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: Corpses may be the enemy team or giant robots, depending on the story.
21	* BigDamnKiss: Between [[spoiler:Lizzie and Christian]] in HFH and [[spoiler:Engineer and Pyro - husband and wife - in MDB]].
22	* ContinuityNod: Lots, to the games, videos, and comics.
23	* {{Flashback}}: Both ''Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler'' and ''I'll Be Home For the Holidays'' have extended flashback scenes. The latter's second main storyline is told in flashback in [[spoiler:Medic's journal when he worked in a concentration camp]].
24	* HeroicBSOD: Happens to Spy in EMAT when [[spoiler:little Scout is killed by a sentry]] and in MDB when [[spoiler:Blake shoots Sniper, revealing he'd been working for Gray Mann all along]].
25	* ShoutOut: A lot of the chapters' titles; there's references to ''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive'', Music/BillyJoel, ''Film/CrocodileDundee'', and trope names.
26
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder: Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler]]
30
31	* AllMenArePerverts: When Demoman babysits toddler-Scout and goes into Scout's room, he notices the walls are covered in pictures torn from Playboy centerfolds and the bookshelf is stocked with dirty magazines.
32	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The RED Spy to the BLU Spy.
33	* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: It's only three dead [=BLUs=], but it makes for a very striking mental image.
34	* BadassBoast: Soldier gives a pretty sweet one after [[spoiler: the [=BLUs=] have kidnapped the babified RED Scout]]. Subverted in that, after the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome has passed, someone remarks that he was [[ManlyTears crying]].
35	* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: [[spoiler:The BLU Engineer's sentry shoots and kills baby Scout, which turns out to be the key to making him respawn as his adult self.]]
36	* BackFromTheDead: The whole point of Respawn, but they aren't sure it'll work on Scout after the glitch. [[spoiler: It does]].
37	* BerserkButton: Medic ''really'' doesn't take kindly to being called a Nazi.
38	** [[spoiler: Obviously, little Scout being killed is a huge one for the entire RED team.]]
39	* BreathHoldingBrat: When told he can't have a can of Bonk! Atomic Punch, little Scout's response is to hold his breath until Demoman gives in.
40	* BrickJoke: The Jane Austen books.
41	* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Heavy, although Soldier also qualifies.
42	* ChekhovsGun: The (RED) Engineer shows little Scout his sentries at some point. [[spoiler: A few chapters later, a BLU sentry kills Scout.]]
43	* CoveredWithScars: Spy's hands.
44	* CurbStompBattle: Eventually, with [[BerserkButton the right incentive]].
45	* CynicismCatalyst: Spy is a [[spoiler:French Jew and a Holocaust survivor, and lost his two little brothers in a death camp. While he survived, his mother blamed him for their deaths, and they never spoke again for the rest of her life]].
46	* DarkAndTroubledPast: The author develops backstories for Scout, Spy and Medic, and the latter two definitely qualify for this trope.
47	* DisappearedDad: Scout's father as well as Spy's.
48	* DespairEventHorizon: Spy reaches this when [[spoiler:little!Scout is killed.]]
49	* EarlyBirdCameo: In Spy's flashback to [[spoiler: the concentration camp he was sent to in 1942]], one of the doctors he sees is clearly Medic. He never made the connection, and it's uncertain whether Medic ever did. [[spoiler:They accidentally do in the sequel.]]
50	* EnforcedMethodActing: In-universe, the team pretends to all be sick and vomiting from supposedly having eaten Demoman's haggis, so they have an excuse to continue the ceasefire for another day. As soon as Medic turns the video call off, everyone stops pretending to throw up--except Demoman, who really is throwing up because he's hungover and drunk.
51	-->'''Sniper''': How much did ya drink last night?\
52	'''Demoman''': Yer mum.
53	* EvilCounterpart: Downplayed. The BLU team in general is out for the [=REDs=]' blood and cross a line when they [[spoiler: kidnap little Scout]], but the BLU Spy is just [[spoiler: an old colleague of the RED Spy]] who made different career choices and was [[GreenEyedMonster slightly jealous]].
54	* FeedByExample: How Soldier tries to have little Scout eat dinner, with mitigated success.
55	* FluffyCloudHeaven: Averted. [[spoiler: Scout sees "limbo" as a baseball stadium]].
56	* FriendshipMoment: A few between Spy and Sniper of the heartwarming VitriolicBestBuds kind.
57	* FunetikAksent: Everyone, especially (adult) Scout, Demoman, Engineer and, well, [[TheUnintelligible Pyro]].
58	* HaggisIsHorrible: Invoked -- the RED team tries to get an extension to the ceasefire because they don't want the Administrator to find out that Scout turned into a baby, so they pretend that the entire team got food poisoning from eating Demoman's badly prepared haggis, and Scout is just hiding in his room.
59	* HeroicBSOD: Spy has a very nasty one after [[spoiler: little Scout is killed]].
60	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler:Little!Scout is killed by a BLU mini-sentry, only to respawn as adult!Scout.]]
61	* InformedJudaism: [[spoiler: The RED Spy]], revealed in a flashback.
62	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Spy, naturally.
63	* LaResistance: Part of [[spoiler: Spy's]] backstory, and the reason [[spoiler:he was sent to a concentration camp during [=WW2=] - rather than his being Jewish]]. The irony is not lost on him.
64	* ManipulativeBitch: The Administrator, as always.
65	* TheMasquerade: The RED team has to do a bit of obfuscation to convince the Administrator to give them a day's extension to the traditional weekend ceasefire, because clearly Scout can't fight and they don't know if Respawn will work on him. [[spoiler: She guesses there's something shifty about it and quickly sees through their subterfuge.]]
66	* MenCantKeepHouse: Averted on two counts. When Demoman has his turn babysitting Scout, he's surprised to find out that Scout's room is neat and clean (albeit filled with baseball posters and [[AllMenArePerverts Playboy magazine pages]]). The team's refrigerator also has the groceries labeled and organized by food group. Lampshaded by the narration: "For a bunch of guys, they kept the fridge surprisingly clean."
67	%%* MoodWhiplash
68	* MoralityPet: Toddler!Scout becomes this for the eight other RED mercs.
69	* NatureVersusNurture: The Engineer uses this to explain way the baby Scout likes to hang out with the Spy over all the others even as they take care of him more than the Spy.
70	* UsefulNotes/NaziGermany: Part of [[spoiler: Spy's and Medic]]'s backstories. Neither is aware of the other's past. [[spoiler:Until the sequel.]]
71	* NiceGuy: Engineer.
72	* OhCrap: The RED Spy breaks the MexicanStandOff between him and his BLU alter-ego when he hears [[spoiler: little Scout's cry]].
73	* PetTheDog: The mercs go out of their way to keep Scout happy, if only because most of them have no idea how to deal with a small child. This trope especially applies to Spy, who relishes being an aloof {{Jerkass}} but gradually warms up to the kid.
74	* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:The entire RED team eventually becomes this to Scout.]]
75	* PlayingSick: A rare adult example; after Scout has been turned into a toddler, the RED team can't go out onto the battlefield because there will be nobody to watch him. They also don't want to come clean to the Administrator about Scout's situation, because she is not a nice woman and they don't think she will react well to the news. So someone comes up with the idea of Medic talking to the Administrator on a video call and having the entire team pretend to have stomach pains and food poisoning from eating bad haggis.
76	* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Inverted. The malfunctioning Respawn system knocks enough years off Scout's age to turn him into a two-year-old.
77	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The BLU Spy gives one to his RED counterpart at some point.
78	* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "Boy, d'you know why I call this lil' beauty the Gunslinger?"
79	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: After little Scout is killed, the RED team massacres the BLU team and nearly lays waste to their base.]]
80	* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler: In a twisted kind of way, the Administrator made one of these to both RED and BLU. BLU's test was to see how far they would go, and where they would draw the moral line between kidnapping a child and killing it. RED's test was on how hard they would fight for one another in times of need. And they passed their tests.]]
81	* TrueCompanions: The RED team.
82	* TheUnreveal: We never hear what [[spoiler: Spy's dead little brother told Scout to tell him]].
83	* VitriolicBestBuds: The story begins with Sniper and Spy fighting each other. By the end of the story, they still have a high level of vitriol, but they have come to an understanding of each other that no other merc can claim.
84	* ThoseWackyNazis: Medic was ''not'' a Nazi. [[spoiler: But he did work for them for a while.]]
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:I'll Be Home for the Holidays]]
88
89	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Australium. Regularly injecting undistilled doses directly into your bloodstream temporarily boosts your brain power but also increases your aggression.
90	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Sniper, the gangly runt of the litter in a world of beefy moustachioed Australians.
91	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Spy has a criminal record for many things in many parts of the world including, yes, jaywalking in Massachusetts.
92	* ArtificialLimbs: After a Respawn malfuntion, [[spoiler:Giancarlo]] is remade into a cyborg.
93	* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:Spy gets kidnapped by GI]].
94	* BarBrawl: In Chapter 19.
95	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: [[spoiler:Why Blake decides to help Sniper and the others.]]
96	* BigBrotherInstinct: Sniper towards Lizzie.
97	* BigDamnKiss: Between [[spoiler:Lizzie and Christian]] in Chapter 19.
98	* BilingualBonus: Spy's French phrases are not translated.
99	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:An imperfect Respawn system will do that to you.]]
100	* ButtMonkey: Blake Porter. Ridiculous things happen to him.
101	* CallBack: To ''Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler'', when Sniper mentions having babysat once.
102	* ChekhovsGun: The file Giancarlo has on the Spy's backstory that Dotty reads, burns and later mentions to Sniper in a conversation that Spy mishears.
103	* TheChewToy: Blake again, bordering on [[{{Woobie}} Woobiedom]].
104	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Although [[spoiler:Lizzie is completely oblivious at first]].
105	* ChristmasEpisode: The whole story, although chapter 23 in particular happens on Christmas Eve.
106	* ColdBloodedTorture: And with a Dispenser at hand.
107	* CombatPragmatist: Giancarlo, plus Spy and Sniper.
108	* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Chapter 22.
109	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Giancarlo Serafini, the CEO of Gray Industries, formerly a mobster (the Mafia kicked him out for being too vicious).
110	* CrazyJealousGuy: What Lizzie's husband Jack turns out as.
111	* {{Cyborg}}: What [[spoiler:Giancarlo]] ends up as.
112	* DarkerAndEdgier: EMAT was mostly light with a few TearJerker moments. HFH has multiple plotlines (including one all in flashbacks), deals with issues like racism in the 1960s, SurvivorGuilt, family estrangement, and a married couple falling out of love.
113	%%* DeathbedConfession
114	* DramaticUnmask: Sniper is curious enough to try this on Spy to get him out of his HeroicBSOD. Spy [[BerserkButton does]] [[FreakOut not]] [[{{Understatement}} take it well]].
115	* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Lawrence [[spoiler:Octavius]] Mundy Junior.
116	* EmpathicEnvironment: Chapter 16 has DramaticThunder, followed by a BattleInTheRain of sorts during [[spoiler:Sniper's struggles against the crocodile]].
117	* EurekaMoment: Towards the end, [[spoiler:Sniper is critically injured]] and Spy can only wait to see if [[spoiler:he'll pull through]]... and then the idea pops up to simply ask Medic for help, despite the fact that he's on the other side of the world and they didn't part on good terms.
118	* FireForgedFriends: [[VitriolicBestBuds Sniper and Spy]] don't do things by half...
119	* FirstNameBasis: Sniper and Spy, from the first few chapters. Sniper is quite surprised to learn that Philippe is Spy's ''actual'' name, not one he made up in the spur of the moment.
120	* {{Foreshadowing}}: A lot for ''Machines Don't Bleed'', the third instalment of the series.
121	* {{Forgiveness}}: A major theme, with an emphasis on the need to forgive oneself.
122	* FreakOut: In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8531806/1/Trust Trust]]'', a "deleted scene" from EMAT which shows how Spy reacted after [[spoiler: toddler Scout was killed]]. It took Sniper to calm him down. Becomes a plot point in HFH because Sniper saw the number tattooed in Spy's arm and is aware of the implications.
123	* FriendsAllAlong: Sniper and Christian do this at Spy's expense.
124	* FromBadToWorse: The whole of Chapter 16 ("Crocodile Mun-Dee"). Especially from the bit from Spy's [[spoiler:DramaticUnmask]] to the [[spoiler:crocodile attack]].
125	%%* HeroicBSOD
126	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Kida]]. [[spoiler:The Spy]] pulls one later too, but he gets better.
127	%%* HeelFaceTurn
128	* HopeIsScary: For Spy. Defied by Sniper.
129	* InsistentTerminology: Sniper's name is Lawrence, not "Larry", and he's not a "crazed gunman", he's an assassin.
130	* IronicEcho: Spy admonishes Sniper for resorting to punch a tree when he’s greatly upset. Several chapters later when Spy is so upset he resorts to punching a tree.
131	* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Sniper and Spy in the Respawn room in the middle of chapter 21, just before Blake's and Senior's BigDamnHeroes.
132	* {{Jerkass}}: Jack, Lizzie's husband who is an emotionally distant CrazyJealousGuy and calls Christian racial slurs.
133	* JerkassHasAPoint: While Jack's intentions weren't pure, one cannot really blame him for [[spoiler:telling everyone when he finds the cache of weapons in Sniper's van]].
134	* KickTheDog: Giancarlo [[spoiler: killing Kida]]. Also BLU Engineer [[spoiler:shooting Sniper in the back]].
135	* KilledOffForReal: A [[IncrediblyLamePun real]] threat, since Sniper and Spy are out of range of Respawn and they're dealing with [[spoiler:crocodiles, mobsters and giant robots]]. Ultimately happens [[spoiler:to Kida]].
136	* LandDownunder: Featuring struggles for racial equality, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou colourful wildlife]], and most people [[RuleOfFunny including women and girls]] sporting moustaches.
137	%%* LaserGuidedKarma:
138	* LiarRevealed: Sniper's family find out what he really does for a living.
139	* LikeASonToMe: Dotty is a generous, loving person.
140	* LonersAreFreaks: Invoked by one of the guys at the bar discussing Sniper's going "around the bend" (becoming a mercenary).
141	* LoveTriangle: Resolved when [[spoiler:Lizzie breaks up with Jack and goes with Christian]].
142	* [[TheManBehindTheMan The Mann Behind The Man]]: Giancarlo Serafini, mobster and CEO of Gray Industries, is actually employed by Gray Mann, who has a much more far-reaching plan...
143	* MechaMooks: GI develops robots intended to be super-soldiers.
144	* MercyKill: During a round Sniper is blinded by an exploding rocket. Spy grants his wish to be finished off so he can Respawn. This actually sets off the plot by helping convince the Administrator that they all need a break.
145	* MistakenForGay: Sniper and Spy, by Sniper's parents.
146	* NeverMyFault: Spy has one foot in that trope and the other in ItsAllMyFault where his past (particularly [[CynicismCatalyst his little brothers]]' fates) is concerned.
147	* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler: Spy after Sniper got shot.]]
148	* [[spoiler:OnlyMostlyDead: Sniper. It's a very specific term in the medical community]].
149	* [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou The Only One Allowed To Mock You]]: Spy resents Jack or anyone else who tries to make fun of Sniper.
150	* PetTheDog: Delmond may be a sellout and a traitor but [[spoiler: he does care about Blake enough to save the lad's life after being shot, and secures him a job as the new BLU Engineer after the collapse of GI.]]
151	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Sniper and Spy shout these at each other in Chapter 17.
152	%%* RefugeInAudacity
153	%%* RightBehindMe
154	* RoaringRampageOfRescue: [[spoiler: Sniper went on a rescue mission with Lizzie and Christian after Giancarlo captured Spy.]]
155	* ScrubbingOffTheTrauma: Spy, a few hours after [[spoiler:Sniper]] is shot in front of him starts panicking about how Sniper's blood just won't come off: "''It wasn't coming off. It wasn't coming off, and it was going to stain, just like [[spoiler:Lawrence]]'s blood had, because that hadn't come off either, but he had gone hours and hours and hours before he had realized that [[spoiler:Lawrence]]'s blood was still on his hands, and it had stained his skin so deeply that no matter how hard he scrubbed and lathered it wouldn't come off—it wasn't coming off, it wasn't coming off and there was nothing he could do—''"
156	* SequelHook: [[spoiler: "Mister Bidwell, please inform all necessary personnel that Operation Countdown is effective immediately."]]
157	* ShoutOut:
158	** Spy momentarily picks up a ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' gun while looking through a cache of weapons. Earlier he and Sniper were looking at a [[VideoGame/HalfLife crowbar]].
159	** Spy talking about the Sniper enjoying some nice hot [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory2 shmoes]].
160	** While interrogating Spy, Giancarlo demands who sent him.
161	--> "Team Fortress industries? [[VideoGame/HalfLife Black Mesa]]? Not that idiot [[Videogame/{{Portal 2}} Johnson]]?"
162	* SoProudOfYou: It takes a ''lot'', but Senior finally admits this to his son.
163	* SurvivorGuilt: Spy, in spades, from [[spoiler:making it out of a concentration camp alive while his little brothers didn't]].
164	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: From Chapter 18:
165	-->''It took another three days to get Sniper out of the hospital, during which time he forced Spy to call the Mundy residence and assure Dotty that, yes, everything was all right, and, no, there was absolutely no chance he was currently calling from a hospital and under no circumstances was her son injured. Whatsoever.''
166	* [[spoiler: TakingTheBullet: Sniper saves Spy this way.]]
167	* TranquilFury: Delmond the BLU Engineer[[spoiler: when he's hopped up on Australium]].
168	* TheUnfought: Gray Mann.
169	* UngratefulBastard: Delmond. Sniper and Spy let him live and he repays them by [[spoiler:shooting Sniper in the back.]]
170	* VillainousBreakdown: Giancarlo. [[spoiler:Realising you essentially died and came back a botched cyborg]] will do that to you.
171	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Spy when he finds out [[spoiler:Medic is the same doctor from his past]].
172	* WellDoneSonGuy: Sniper just wants his father to be proud of him.
173	* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler: [[{{Jerkass}} Jack]]]]. Or at least he tries.
174	* YouAreNotAlone: Dotty to Spy.
175	* YouHaveFailedMe: Averted in that [[spoiler:Gray Mann is actually impressed with Blake.]]
176	* YouShouldHaveDiedInstead: A variation when a grief-stricken Lizzie tells Spy that [[spoiler:he should have been shot instead of Sniper.]]
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Machines Don't Bleed]]
180
181	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Both Australium (the dwindling reserves make it a highly-coveted McGuffin) and the few vials of Medigun formula the [=REDs=] managed to save from the attack on their base.
182	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Sniper to Scout after the first fight with the Viper, about the fact that Scout ignored his warnings and still sneaked out to meet a girl. Scout protests that he's already had the lecture from Spy and Pyro and that he's not a kid. Sniper snaps back, "Then why are you acting like one?" This, plus what happened to kick off the story, actually spurs Scout to act more like an adult.
183	* BloodFromTheMouth: happens to a few characters after they're wounded, never a good sign. Gray, dying from a combination of old age and Australium overdose, mocks [[spoiler:Blake]] when [[spoiler:Blake]] asks him if he's all right after a coughing fit that ends up making him cough up blood. "Generally, boy, blood from the mouth indicates I will be the furthest thing from all right."
184	* BookEnds: the prologue starts with the BLU Engineer listening to "The House of the Rising Sun". The epilogue starts with [[spoiler:Sniper]] waking up to the same song, thinking he hates it.
185	* BoringButPractical: referenced by name by Lizzie with regards to her life as a home-maker (which Pauling admits she envies, a little, for the stability and regularity).
186	* BreakingTheFellowship: The [=REDs=] split up into two main teams in the first part. In the end, though, after they've [[spoiler:pretty much saved the world]], they part on more definite terms: going back to family, finding other jobs, or wandering the world.
187	* BrickJoke: Just after the attack at the beginning of the story, Sniper hunts a couple of rabbits for breakfast. Scout is disgusted, and Sniper cuts off a rabbit's foot and [[{{Troll}} throws it at him]], saying "it's good luck." By the next chapter, the rabbits' feet have been picked up by Soldier, who gives them (back) to Sniper, saying "it's good luck" and that he's going to need all the luck he can get.
188	* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Soldier sustains a very bad leg wound after he takes down the giant Heavybot in chapter 14. [[spoiler:It doesn't stop him from pulling a HeroicSacrifice]] the next chapter.
189	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: When Scout insists he and Blake make the rendezvous with the two girls despite Sniper's and Spy's warnings. “You’re gonna get us both killed.” Blake hissed. “Spy is gonna kill us both dead. He’s gonna kill us so dead we’ll die.”
190	* DisneyDeath: Happens to [[spoiler:Sniper]] at the end of Part 3, and [[spoiler:also Spy]] in chapter 34.
191	* DrivenToSuicide: Desmond, the BLU Engineer, in the prologue. [[spoiler:Radigan Conagher also did this in the backstory to escape the effect Australium was having on his brain.]]
192	* DrivingQuestion: "[[WhatYouAreInTheDark Who are you in the dark]]" for Castillo. He asks it of Sniper, Spy, and ends of asking it of himself.
193	* EekAMouse: Bidwell in the abandoned factory. Pauling and Christian are ''not'' amused.
194	* [[EverybodySDeadDave Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: [[spoiler:Almost the whole BLU team is killed]] in chapter 3 in a CurbStompBattle.
195	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Spy thinks it instead of explaining it out loud, but his putting pieces of the plot together:
196	-->''Two years ago Blake Porter had taken up the mantle of the BLU Engineer. His predecessor was a short, soft-spoken Texan who, if Spy recalled correctly, had borne a modest resemblance to their own Dell Conagher. The former BLU Engineer had resigned suddenly, wooed from his position by a lucrative partnership with—''\
197	''“Oh,” Spy said aloud. “Shit.”''
198	* EvenEvilHasStandards: The old [=BLUs=] may be mercenaries on Gray Mann's payroll, they don't want the same things at all. As the Viper puts it: "I may be an evil man but I am not a man who would usher us into oblivion."
199	* [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler First Chapter Spoiler]]: Delmond, the BLU Engineer, [[spoiler:is the first of many to die]].
200	* [[spoiler:GenderReveal]]: [[spoiler:Pyro is a woman.]]
201	* GraveRobbing: Though they're not happy about it, Team Mundy does this in chapter 20 to get [[spoiler:Radigan Conagher's blueprints]].
202	* HeadbuttOfLove: a platonic and particularly tear-jerky version between Sniper and Spy when [[spoiler:Sniper has to leave a mortally wounded Spy behind]].
203	* HesBack: It takes a possibly imaginary conversation with the ghost of [[spoiler:Medic]], but Spy, in chapter 30, after leaving the team in a major BSOD.
204	* IfYouReSoEvilEatThisKitten: Twice. Gray orders [[spoiler:Blake]] to "go bag us a dingo" to prove he has no attachment to the [=REDs=] and is fit to join Mann Co. [[spoiler:He does, albeit with a tranq dart.]] Then, a few chapters later, Gray tells [[spoiler:Blake]] to kill Scout. [[spoiler:This time he refuses outright.]]
205	* InsultToRocks: Spy notes in chapter 20 that calling Radigan Conagher's house a shack would be an affront to shacks, because at least shacks have an excuse for being badly kept.
206	* IronicEcho (?): someone remarking to one of the Mann siblings that the other is a lot like them, and either sibling muttering "Oh God, that’ll be the day".
207	** Also both [[spoiler:Castillo and Spy]], mortally wounded, look at Sniper and say "Isn’t it obvious, Lawrence Mundy? I'm ''dying''."
208	* KickTheDog: Gray pistol-whips Bianca in front of Engineer to get him to cooperate (and make a point, ie. that nobody is [irreplaceable], even his daughter). Bianca [[spoiler:was already a double agent by this point]], but it sets Dell on the path to include her in his plans.
209	* KilledOffForReal: No Respawn means no coming BackFromTheDead, which means that [[spoiler:the entire BLU team plus Bidwell, Medic, Soldier and two of the "classic" team who died]] stay dead.
210	* LastStand: The team of Demoman, Pauling, Heavy, Soldier, Christian, Lizzie and Senior, trying to stop - or at least slow down - the onslaught of killing robots.
211	* LetSSplitUpGang: several times throughout the story, the main one being at the beginning (after the BLU massacre), when Pauling, Demoman, Soldier, Medic and Heavy go to Australia to try to find Saxton Hale while Spy, Sniper, Pyro, Blake and Scout go [in search of Autralium].
212	* LittleNo: In chapter 32, Blake [[spoiler:stands up to his father when he's ordered to kill Scout]].
213	* MoeGreeneSpecial: Happens to Giancarlo in his cyborg eye, ''twice'': first when Pauling shoots him at Ayers Rock, then in the final showdown, during his fight against Spy.
214	* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Apparently, Engineer swears so heavily in chapter 2 that even [[SirSwearsALot Scout]] turns red.
215	* NiceGuy: The Engineer is naturally genial, but plays up this trope to eleven to get Bianca to lower her guard. It works.
216	* NoPeriodsPeriod: averted. The question of how Irene dealt with being on her period is brought up by Scout. Irene's answer? "I put on my Kotex and I dealt with it. I saw enough blood on a daily basis, did ya think a little more would stop me?"
217	* NotNowKiddo: When Pyro tries to point out that Engineer is missing the others have that reaction, since s/he's TheUnintelligible and they're too busy yelling at each other.
218	* NoOSHACompliance: there is a decided lack of fences and barriers inside Ayers Rock, which Demoman lampshades.
219	* PlotTriggeringDeath: "It looks like we're going to have to find ourselves a new Engineer."
220	* TheReveal: In chapter 4 -- Pyro [[spoiler:is Irene, the RED Engineer's wife]].
221	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: When two young ladies seem to find Blake more appealing than Scout:
222	-->''Scout rested his chin in his hand. “I don’t get it. What’s he got that I don’t got?”''\
223	''“Charm,” said Spy.''\
224	''“Tact,” said Sniper.''\
225	''“Appeal,” said Pyro.''
226	* ShoutOut:
227	** [[Film/LordOfTheRings One does not simply walk into Ayers Rock.]]
228	* SoundTrackDissonance:
229	** Gray Mann hums "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" as he locks a bunch of people inside a train carriage, sets it on fire, and hears them scream as they die horribly.
230	** Giancarlo sings "I've Got You Under My Skin" as he lights a bushfire (as a diversion) and Gray's robots are powering up.
231	* StartsWithASuicide: Delmond, the original BLU Engineer.
232	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Delmond, the original BLU Engineer shoots himself in the head in the prologue.
233	** In chapter 3, [[spoiler:almost the entire BLU team is gruesomely wiped out by the Gray robots]].
234	* VaguenessIsComing: Sniper noting that a storm is coming.
235	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: A favourite question of the Viper's to ask his opponents. The trope ends up applying to him at the end, when he sees Giancarlo head in Sniper's and Spy's direction. (He ends up [[spoiler:facing Giancarlo, getting mortally wounded in the process]].)
236	-->''No one had seen him here, no one knew that he knew where Giancarlo was going. No one expected him to come to the rescue of his former protégé and his protégé’s Australian. His team was waiting for him to join them.'' Edwin ''was waiting.''\
237	''No one would know.''
238	''You would know, said a voice in his head, some super-effective combination of Edwin and Hideo.
239	Castillo drew his favorite dagger from his belt and tilted it to the light. He could see himself in it: an old, wrinkly man with dark green eyes. He would know.''
240	* WouldntHitAGirl: Invoked by Saxton Hale and the reason he lost Mann Co. to Gray Mann, as per the "fistfight clause". Also discussed by the [=REDs=] in chapter 6:
241	-->''Demoman tilted his head to the side, surprised at Scout’s sentiment. “Would ye fight a girl, then, laddie?”''\
242	''Scout shook his head. “Girls are tough as shit, man, you’ve seen my ma.”''\
243	''“I’d fight a girl,” Soldier said to no one in particular.''\
244	''“I wouldn’t, Blake said, also to no one in particular.''\

Context Fanfic / EightMercenariesAndAToddler